How to Secure your eCommerce Website

When you finally started to build your dream of owning an eCommerce business, it will be undoubtedly fun and challenging. Creating your site, talking to your suppliers, creating promotional activities and try to connect with your every prospect can take as much as of your time.

However, online business owners tend to forget one thing and yet the most crucial feature any website should have. That is to keep their eCommerce website secure. It is a common misconception that small online businesses are not susceptible to any form of cyber-attack, but that is not the case.

According to studies done in over the years, cybersecurity experts found out that hackers and cybercriminals target small businesses found online than those of large and established companies. These hackers expect that eCommerce website of smaller firms are more complacent when it comes to security.

When you experience an attack, not only can you feel it lash financially, but it can also hurt the reputation you are trying to build. Customers will have second thoughts transacting with you if you can’t even keep their information secure.

So, how do you secure your eCommerce site? Here are some of the ways you can keep hackers away from your website but first get to know some of the frequent attacks you might experience.

Common Types of Attacks Your eCommerce Site Might Encounter

• SQL Injections

For your website to function, be able to access databases and execute commands, it needs SQL or Structured Query Language.

However, One of the most common attacks in a website is called SQL injection, where an attacker uses rouge commands to gain access to sensitive data stored on the database.

There are three types of SQL injection that you should take noted off. First is, in-band SQL injections or when the same language as you do in launching the attack. Inferential SQL injections is a kind of attack where the attackers send data packets to check on your data structure. Lastly, out-of-band SQL injections that rely on your website’s server capacity to create DNS or HTTP request where information will be transferred.

• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

A client-side code injection attack on your eCommerce site, cross-site scripting or XSS can execute malicious and harmful scripts into your web browser.

This type of attack is harmful and effective mainly when used in a web page that allows user input or comments. An XSS attack may change your website interface or redirect your traffic to another site instead.

• DDoS and DOS

The most annoying type of attacks you’ll encounter, DDoS and DoS attacks can flood your website with illegitimate traffic making your site unresponsive and impossible for visitors to gain access. It can then infect malware that can cause further damage to your eCommerce site.

• Malware

Malware is one of the most common and popular types of attacks these days. It includes the armband of attacks like ransomware, viruses, spyware, worms and a lot more. This type of attack can steal any information from your site, hold these data hostage or even your website, erase confidential data and infect your website visitors.

Ways To Secure Your eCommerce Website

1. Find A Good Webhost and eCommerce Platform

While there are many eCommerce solutions out on the internet that you can tap for your business online, you should always remember to work with secured platforms and web host that give optimal protection. Aside from keeping hackers and possible threats at bay, your web host and platform should have an excellent backup service to make sure that you can restore your eCommerce site once it experiences a security breach.

It is vital also to make sure that your web host operates 24/7, with excellent customer service and a technical support team that you can rely on to anytime and contact immediately should the need arises. Having them within your reach will make sure your website will perform faster and offer optimum performance.

These days, it is wise also to choose a managed cloud hosting platform. This hosting platform can also take care of your website security and can add further layers of protection from any security breach.

Another critical thing you must remember is to not settle on the first web host and platform that you encounter. It is always best to look around and check out a different web hosting provider that would suit your needs, your business and your security requirements.

2. Incorporate HTTPS

With the growth of online threats, fraudulent activities and scams users, website visitors have also been wise these days. When doing searches online, many look for sites that have HTTPS in their site’s URL.

With this, it is essential to get an SSL certificate and move your eCommerce site to HTTPS. Aside from keeping your website free from online frauds and prevent hackers from stealing your data, HTTPS send a ranking signal to Google, which can make your website acquire a higher ranking in search engine result.

3. Leverage On Payment Platforms Than Creating One

It is not easy to manage an eCommerce website – you have to deal with many things, including keeping your site secure. As you do this, do not put an additional burden on your back and leave payment and data processing to secured third parties.

Payment gateways are entirely secured and can have a minimum possibility for data leakage. When choosing a payment platform for your business, make sure it will work best with your web host and platform.

4. Conduct regular SQL Checks

Structured Query Language or SQL is an essential part of your website. However, this can be a source of vulnerability in your site when an SQL injection is put in place.

Doing routine checks for any SQL injection can help keep your website safe and secure. There are several software options available these days that can help you keep track of these possible vulnerabilities. If you want to rely upon free site scanners to perform this task, make sure to get it from trusted vendors. Otherwise, it will only worsen the situation by providing inaccurate results.

5. Always Keep Your Website Updated

It is vital to be always in the loop for new updates on your website software. Over time, any website can develop a set of vulnerabilities. These are what developers are trying to fix by releasing updates that include crucial security patches.

Failing to keep your website updated that may lead to having vulnerabilities can become access for any possible attack. Hackers and cybercriminals will not let you know when will their offence will be, so it essential to keep your eCommerce website always updated and secured.

6. Have Regular Back-ups

Though this will not keep any possible attacks from happening, doing regular backups of your website data can minimize the damage done by hackers.

Some hackers and cybercriminals will try to steal all information found in your site and worse hold them hostage. When this happens, having a backup can prevent you from being at your hacker’s mercy.

Take the time to back up the eCommerce site as often as you can. Luckily these days, most website builders and web hosts offer website backup as one of their built-in features.

7. Get A Firewall Protection

To take your eCommerce website protection to the next level, you can get and use WAF or website application firewall. It is an excellent way to protect your site from any SQL injection, XSS, forgery requests, and as well as hacking attempts like brute force attempts. It can also help your website be free from any DoS or DDoS attack. Depending on your need and budget, you can find the best web application firewall on the market.

Final Thoughts

No one cannot predict when an attack will happen in your site. Instead of waiting, when will it happen and knowing the severity it can cause, take all the necessary precautions you can do. It will not only give your eCommerce site the protection it needs, but it will also give you the peace of mind you deserve. However, this does not mean that you should be complacent enough. Still, be on your toes and always keep an eye for any possible attack.